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Ross moving corporate headquarters to Dublin in 2014
Pleasanton-based off-price retailer move adds to California Center's woes

by Jeb Bing

Ross Stores will move out of Pleasanton in 2014 and into a three building complex it has purchased at Emerald Point near Sybase in Dublin.

One of the country's largest retailers of discounted merchandise, Ross is making the move to accommodate its expanding business operations.

The company moved its corporate offices from Newark three years ago into the CarrAmerica Center in Pleasanton (now renamed the California Center), where it now occupies 167,000 square feet. The three buildings it purchased offer 420,000 square feet of floor space.

According to the San Francisco Business Times, the deal is not only one of the largest building sales in the Tri-Valley in recent memory, but also one of the largest involving a firm going from leasing to owning.

James Paxson, general manager of the Hacienda Business Park Owners Association, said the Ross lease at California Center expires in June 2014, and the company said it will make the move to Dublin earlier that year.

"Fortunately that kind of lead times gives everyone a chance to put the word out that there's choice space available at California Center," Paxson said. "We're sorry to see them go, but Ross had some unique space requirements and also wanted to own their own facilities, and we simply couldn't accommodate those needs."

The announcement by Ross came at a time when leasing agents for the California Center are already scrambling to fill empty space. The occupancy rate at the center this month is about 50%.